One Week Anniversary!

Last night Pippin gave me the best anniversary present- he let me sleep all night!  Well, until 5am, but, hey, I'll take it, especially since he fell back to sleep at 6ish and let me sleep again until 8:30.  Way to go, little guy!

One week ago at this time we were in Vancouver picking up his kennel, dog bed, toys, and hoping when we saw him it would be a good fit.  An hour and a half later, he was throwing up on me in the car.  I prefer what he's doing now- cuddling by my side while I type.  I love his desire to just be close to us.  If we're sitting on the couch, he drops right down under our feet.  If I'm laying on the floor typing (like now), he cuddles right up to me and settles down with a contented sigh.  I think I sigh a little bit, too.  I'm so grateful to our landlord for lifting the puppy ban.  Pippin is such a wonderful new part of our family.

What a full evening for Pippin tonight. The Murdock clan came over- this time they brought Daphne- their dachshund.  The last couple times we've watched Daphne, I've been amazed by how sweet and small she is. While she's still sweet, she is very big and very solid compared to little Pip.  Pippin quickly showed her that she was the dominant one, but then wanted to play with her.  Like Tuffy yesterday, she just wanted her space and didn't interact much with him.  When he'd jump at her, she'd tell him in no uncertain terms to back off.  *chuckle*  We'll just need to take Pippin to a dog park soon and let him play with some puppies that are more his age and are willing to be silly.

It's interesting to see Corinna with Pip.  The poor kid had four different adults giving her advice on how to behave around the puppy.  She's still pretty nervous around him, and I think Pip thinks she's a chew toy.  He doesn't bite, but, oh, how he loves to nibble those little fingers of hers, and, oh, how she squeals when he does it.  I wonder- can I spray an entire child down with "no chew" spray? ; o )

Daphne and Pippin with their rawhide strips.  Daphne completely ate hers in about an hour.  Pippin, as you can see, barely touched his.  This is when Pip had calmed down a bit and Corinna was doing really well with him.  

So after five straight hours of love and attention and playing, he reacted like a very tired child after I put him in his kennel and went to take a shower.  I could almost hear through the yips and whines, "But I'm not tired!!!"  As soon as I made it back to bed, he immediately fell asleep.  I hope he sleeps well tonight.  I'm on duty. :O)

Day Seven

Full night's sleeps are wonderful.  Yep- Paul had puppy duty last night.  Poor guy kept waking up every half hour worried that he couldn't hear the puppy's whine.  Pippin slept for longer than he has in the past.  Hopefully he'll transition to a full night's sleep soon. :O)  By the time I got up, Pip was all cuddles.  Some of the best things in the world have to be stroking soft puppy fir, a puppy cuddling at your neck, and small puppy kisses.

Nice afternoon today.  Since we have the indoor "sit" down pretty well, this evening before dinner we started learning "down."  Pip's catching on really quickly- smart little thing that he is.  Tonight it was fun to hear Paul taking him out after his kennel time.  We live by a busy road and a truck was rumbling past at that time.  As he opened the door carrying Pippin in his arms, he remarked, "Oh- that's a big bad truck. Let's go get that big bad truck."  I love my guys.

Day Six

It's hard to convince a puppy that even though it's light outside at 5am it's still sleeping time.  sigh.  Soooo 5am we were up and playing and training and starting our day.  When he finally tired out and settled down by my feet, I started working on my Rosetta stone Spanish stuff.  However, my speed at repeating the phrases got slower and slower, and soon I was doing as many of the exercises as I could with my eyes closed.  I decided enough was enough and it was time to go back to bed, except out in the living room.  He went to his kennel and I crashed on the couch.

Later that morning we had our first canine play date.  Amber brought Tuffy over and it was quite the study in extreme size differences.  Tuffy is a beautiful red retreiver and I don't think Pippin came up even to his knee.  Tuffy would make circles around the yard with Pippin hopping along behind him thinking "Play with me! Notice me!"  It was fun.  Pip got lots of love from Amber.

After a 2 hour allergy clinic this morning (which, by the way, told me I probably am NOT allergic to bees now.  Huzzah!), I took Pippin out back exploring while Paul took a cat nap to catch up on the sleep he lost last night.  We played and he leaped through the grass.  Pretty soon he was bringing me back leaves that he would shred.  After a little while, he curled up next to my arm and fell asleep...... I did, too.  About an hour and a half later we woke up, Paul was up, and we were all well-rested and happy.

A couple more "sit" training sessions finished off the afternoon.   We're also on an "every hour" bathroom schedule and not an accident today! :O)

Ahhhhh- sleep! (I'll explain later).  Yesterday was a great day, but a loooong day.  I'm trying to crate train our little guy, but don't want to ask him to be in there too long.  I'm trying to get him to love his little home, but I don't close the door yet so I still have to watch him.  He'd start napping, but then a noise from the tv or the rain from outside would wake him up, and he'd bolt up.  However, with a couple treats in his crate, he is starting to go in there to check for good things, and we praise him whenever he goes in.

Another fun thing is that we got five little training sessions in today and now Pippin needs a "Will sit for food" sign!  He's doing so well at sitting for a treat or kibble of food.  Even when he thinks we've got something in our hand, he'll plop his little hindquarters down.  I love it.

Late this afternoon when Paul came home, he took over puppy duty for the evening and night.  I went to bed early and slept the whole night through while he got up with the pup.  What a great guy. :)  This morning, I got up and the two were having puppy play time in the living room.  It's so fun to see Pippin feeling better and leaping and playing like a puppy should.

Day four

Last night sleep came better to both of us.  Still roughly two hour potty breaks, but this time barely any whimpering when it was "back to bed" for him.  He did super well.  This morning we did our first "sit" training session.  He successfully sat for a treat about 10 times before he ate breakfast.  Yay!  The only setback this morning was his reluctance to go in his outdoor spot due to the heavy traffic noise.  We moved the bathroom spot into the garage for Pip's morning relief and everything went well.

Puppy potty woes

Ok- I get that this is only day three of our new puppy life, but this evening has not been stellar in Pippin bladder world.  Despite regular trips outside, he's taken to piddling in front of his crate whether we have newspaper there or not.  LOTS of accidents- many of them within 45 minutes.  He'd have an accident and we'd take him outside, do his business, and then do it again inside.

Also, in other news, I have become a chew toy.   I am trying to substitute his toys for my fingers, but he still gets a couple nips in there.  He is still 100% adorable, but is also reminding me he's 100% puppy and has puppy needs that will take some patience and redirection.

Afternoon play date with Elison family part two- the Murdock family.  Lots of loves all around. It was awesome.  Now Pippin is sacked out in his bed after the heavy-duty play time.  Jackson was the one with the magic touch that got him to fall asleep.

Morning three

Last night was "tough love phase one."   When I was ready for lights-off, I lifted Pippin into his kennel and closed the door.  For 20 minutes, he let m78///////////////////////// (that was his typing right there) me know I was the most horrible person in the world.  I need to record the sound tonight because even though he's frustrated, it is the sweetest little puppy voice ever.  Well, Pippin took a page out of Linda's puppy's book.  Every two hours, I had a little puppy wake-up call.  This time I was "with it" enough to slip on Paul's jacket and flip flops and take him out to his outside spot.  I was proud of him for doing his thing and of myself for sleepwalking so well that he and I made it out and back every time. After each bathroom trip, we went through the "You don't love me any more" phase, but luckily it got progressively shorter.

At the 6 o'clock potty break, it was light enough that I figured we'd better get up.  He was so perky during playtime this morning!  I guess a good night's sleep (or what he thought was a good night's sleep) and a calm little tummy helped.  He chased his ball, chewed on the rope toy, gnawed on his stuffed hedgehog, and practiced teething on his rawhide strip.  Then we went for a walk around the yard.  Well, I walked- Pippin leaped along behind me.    Then came breakfast, which he gobbled right down (what a relief), and now it's "explore the living room time" while I blog.

Day Two

Day Two:
Night one away from his littermate sister went alright.  After he fell asleep next to me, I put him in his bed.  He slept really well until 2:32.  He woke up, whimpered a bit, woke up a very groggy woman, and got taken out to the garage.  Like a good little puppy, he did his business and then came back to bed.  Once he'd fallen asleep with me, I again put him back in his kennel bed.  Now for the battle of the wills.  I held a hand softly on him in his bed.  However, when I would fall asleep, he'd climb back into the bed and snuggle down by my face.  I'd wake up enough to let him fall back asleep, put him back in his bed, and the pattern would start all over again.  Finally at 5:10, I gave in and let him stay.  Tomorrow night will be a different story.

This morning we had to leave him in his crate for the first time while we went to church.  Welcome to life as a Mormon puppy! He did a great job and when Paul came home to check on him, he was napping happily.  Phew!  

All day long he still didn't eat.  He threw up a little on me again, but only had water in his tummy, so it wasn't too bad.  I hope he settles down soon.  Finally at 9ish, I was on the phone with Melissa, and I hear "Good boy!!! Good Pippin!" from the living room.  Paul called back "He's eating!"  Finally, after two days, he got his little tummy full and ate out of the bowl.  Phew.  We were starting to worry.  Hopefully this means he's feeling more at home and comfortable.